Caroline and the Big Hangover
by Caroline
Summary: [season two RC fic] Richard wakes up with a big hangover. And a big problem.
1. Chapter 1

**_Caroline and the Big Hangover_**

_by Caroline_

* * *

Richard awoke to pain radiating across his forehead, shooting straight to the back of his skull. He groaned slightly, rolling over onto his back in bed. He squinted his eyes shut tight, the light of a new day just adding to the pain. What the hell was going on? As he opened one eye and stared up at the ceiling, he was met with another question. Where the hell was he?

Sure, a ceiling didn't give much away about his location, but he definitely knew he wasn't in his own apartment. This ceiling was... well, it was still white. Free of blood stains, water damage, and cracks. A name immediately popped into his head. Caroline.

Her party lastnight. He hadn't wanted to go... but, like usual, she batted her eyelashes and stared up at him with those doe eyes of hers, and he was a goner. So he'd shown up. Several people were there... many of which, he didn't know. Annie, Del, and Charlie were the only ones he knew personally.

He remembered he hadn't planned on drinking. Caroline hadn't planned on drinking. But as Annie became increasingly inebriated, she'd begun to shove drinks into their hands to keep them occupied while she flirted with every male in the room. He remembered that though it was Caroline's party, and her friends were constantly buzzing around her, it was Richard she stuck close to for much of the evening. He remembered laughing with her... about what, he couldn't recall. He remembered how she'd clung to him when introducing him to people he didn't know, hanging on his arm as if she was showing off a trophy boyfriend.

He remembered how affectionate she had been as she had drink after drink. He remembered actually going along with her affections as he too had drink after drink... how he stopped fighting her. He'd never been closer to her.

As he reached under the covers and found he wasn't wearing any clothes, he decided he probably had gotten a lot closer to her after the party. But what led up to it?

The last thing he remembered was that he, Annie, Caroline, and Del were the last ones there. Everyone else had gone home. Caroline was trying desperately to push them all out the door, insisting that she needed her beauty rest. Del had offered to escort Annie home, though she lived only eight feet away. Richard even remembered leaving with them. But at what point had he gone back in? Everything after he left Caroline's apartment was a complete blur.

He groaned again, his headache becoming more intense as he rubbed his hands over his face. As he did so, he felt a warm body stirring beside him, her skin soft. He prayed whatever was about to happen next wouldn't ruin his and Caroline's friendship.

He closed his eyes as he rolled over, anticipating the look of confusion he was about to see on Caroline's face. When he opened his eyes, he screamed, and tumbled out of bed, the one in bed beside him shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Annie?!" Richard gasped, staring wide-eyed at his nemesis... the mouthy brunette he despised.

Annie slapped a hand over her eyes as she rose up on her knees, clutching the sheet to her collarbone. "Richie..." she murmured. "What in the holy hell are you doing in my bed?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." He glanced more closely at his surroundings. "This is your apartment, huh?"

"Yes, yes it is. What the hell happened lastnight?" she breathed, still trying to calm her racing heart.

"Well, judging by the fact that neither one of us is wearing clothes, and that we were in bed together, I'd say the world has ended. Hell has frozen over, and pigs have begun to fly."

"Ugh, God..." she moaned, her voice taking on a tone of disgust. "Ugh, I can't believe I _slept_ with you!"

"You and me both," he replied. "I mean, out of all the men in Manhattan, am I really the only one you had left to sleep with?"

"Seriously, what the hell _happened_ lastnight? I mean, I know we all got pretty trashed, but what _happened_ that would make me actually _want_ to sleep with you?!"

Just then, the door to Annie's apartment swung open and Caroline barged in. "Annie, what the hell is all the yelling ab--oh, my God!"

The three of them just stared wide-eyed at each other, Richard trying desperately to wrap himself in the sheet. "Caroline..." Richard murmured. He was feeling incredibly guilty, and wasn't exactly sure as to why. He and Caroline weren't an item, so it wasn't as if he cheated on her.

"Oh God..." Caroline moved to cover her eyes, already having seen too much of Richard. "Ummm... I'm sorry, I must have stepped into an alternate universe, so if you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna find the portal to reality."

"Caroline, wait!" Annie called, but as the door slammed behind Caroline's retreating figure, it was too late. She made a face. "Oops."

"Oh God, she's gonna get the wrong idea now..." Richard murmured, putting his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth. "This is really not good."

Annie furrowed her eyebrows slightly at this. "Why, because your methods of seduction were starting to work on her and you guys were... 'right there'?" she quipped, making air quotes. "Please, Richie. Who cares if she gets the wrong idea? It's not like you've been doing anything about your feelings anyway."

"What feelings? I don't have feelings for Caroline."

"_Must_ I start quoting that damn letter again?"

"Annie, I _told_ you..." he hissed through clenched teeth. "I wrote that letter when I was really drunk, and it didn't mean anything." He gestured to her. "I mean, I slept with _you_ when I was drunk, for Christ sakes! That should give you some indication of how 'out-of-it' I get when I have too much Chianti!"

Annie folded her arms across her chest, holding the sheet securely against her body as she did so. "Uh-huh..." she murmured in a patronizing tone. "Come on Richie, you know I can see through that bullshit you're layin' on me." She shrugged. "Besides, the way I see it, you could actually use this little apocalyptic occurrence to your advantage."

He eyed her warily while he reached under the bed for his boxers, pulling them on under the sheet before standing up. "What do you mean?"

Annie tucked the sheet around herself like a towel, securing it under her arms before sitting back down on the bed. "Well..." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Caroline knows we slept together..."

"Yeah..."

"She seemed a bit upset about that. So, what I was thinking is... maybe we could just _pretend_ like we slept together for a reason."

"Like what?" Richard groaned.

"Like maybe, we could start acting like we really like each other... and even start acting like we're dating, or that we wanna start dating."

"And how will this do me any good?"

"Because Caroline will go nuts," Annie reasoned. "She's already kinda started liking you..."

"She has not," he denied.

"Richie, just... trust me on this, will ya?" she insisted. "If we start acting like we're crazy about each other, _she'll_ go crazy with _jealousy_, and then before you know it..." she snapped her fingers, "she's yours!"

Richard shook his head. "Annie, that'll never work. She'll figure out that's what we're trying to do, she's very smart."

Shaking her head adamantly, she replied, "But not where her heart is concerned. She doesn't think things through completely, she doesn't use reason..." She sighed when she got a blank stare from Richard in return. "Do you not remember the whole train wreck with Joe?"

"How could I not? It wasn't _that_ long ago."

"Well okay then... trust me, where Caroline's heart is concerned, she _thinks_ that she's thinking everything through, but she's not." She paused, studying him. "So are you in?"

He stared at Annie for a long moment, running over the possibilities in his head. Finally, he sighed, nodding. "Yes, I'm in." He eyed her warily for a moment, contemplating what was on her mind, then asked, "So what are we gonna do?"

* * *

TBC

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **_I've been sitting on this one for a good couple of years and finally decided to start posting it, even though it's unfinished. I've developed a renewed interest in the Annie-Richard dynamic, so I'm excited to see where the muse wants this one to go. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Caroline and the Big Hangover**_

_by Caroline_

* * *

"Mornin' Caroline!" Annie chirped, strolling confidently through the door.

Caroline never removed her eyes from the panel in front of her as she replied distantly, "Morning... Annie..."

She grabbed an apple off the counter and tore a chunk out of it before making her way over to her friend. "Listen, Care, I'm sorry about earlier. I had no idea you were just gonna burst in like that."

"Hey, it's alright. I probably should've knocked, but seeing as how nobody else seems to show the courtesy of knocking before they enter a room, I figured it would be okay if I did it too," she replied bitterly.

Annie smirked slightly, sensing that what Caroline saw in her apartment was already getting to her. "Well, nevertheless, I'm sorry. And so's Richie."

"Mm-hmm," she mumbled. "So where is Richard?"

"Oh." Annie smiled, like the cat that ate the canary. "He's in the shower."

"Ahh. And is he even planning on showing up for work today? Because right now, he's about an hour and a half late."

"Oh, don't worry, Care. He said he'd be over as quick as he could. But... after last night, he said he kinda needed the hot water to soothe his muscles." For good measure, she added, "He's pretty sore."

Caroline chuckled grimly. "I'll just bet he is." She sighed. "Look, Annie, I don't mean to be rude, but I kind of have a lot of work to do, and since my assistant is currently taking his sweet-ass time in the shower, I need to work doubly hard. So, if you don't mind..." She gestured to the door with a sweep of her hand.

"Oh, sure!" she exclaimed good-naturedly, pretending to miss Caroline's sarcastic, rude tone of voice. "Sure, I understand. Don't worry, I'm outta here. I'll talk to ya later!"

"Whatever," Caroline grumbled to herself.

Annie grinned widely and strode out the door, shutting it behind her. She smiled at Richard, who was waiting in the hall. He stared expectantly at her. "So?"

Annie laughed. "Oh, she's pretty pissed!"

"Uh-oh..."

She smacked his arm lightly. "No, come on, this is good! This means it's already getting to her! It won't take a whole lot more to drive her over the edge!"

He sighed. "Fine."

Then, she reached out to touch his arm -- something that startled him, but he didn't shy away, instead meeting her eyes as she told him, "Trust me, Richie. Stick with this? And the payoff'll be huge."

"And when Caroline finds out this was all a ruse, and that I effectively lied to her? How well do you think _that's_ going to go over?"

"She doesn't have to know."

"I can't keep it from her."

Annie appeared to be stumped by this, her hand slipping from his arm. "Well... we'll... we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess. For now," she shoved him, "get in there! And act like yourself. Y'know, like nothing's different and like it doesn't even matter."

"Right."

"And make that face you always make, like you're constipated, or passing a kidney stone."

Richard glared at her before going into Caroline's apartment and playing his part. "Morning, Caroline. Sorry I'm late."

Without turning around from her spot at the desk, Caroline distantly replied, "Let's just get to work, okay? We have a lot to do."

"Sure."

He felt her silently fuming for the next two hours. He cringed every time she'd press too hard on the paper with her pen and a rip would fill the silence; his head throbbed every time she huffed exasperatedly -- she claimed it was from writer's block, but he knew better.

Just before lunchtime rolled around, Richard looked up at her, deciding to try a tactic that would appeal to her: kindness. "Caroline, you seem upset about something. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope," she snapped, and scribbled on her paper furiously.

He ventured further. "You just... appear to be a little tense."

"Well, we can't all release tension as easily as you and Annie do," she quipped, and Richard's eyebrows flew up.

Being kind obviously wasn't getting through to her, so he mimicked her demeanor. "Look, if you have something to say to me, Caroline, why don't you just get it off your chest so we can get some work done."

"Y'know, how dare you accuse me of holding up our productivity!" she suddenly raised her voice. "I am not the one that spent the better part of the morning lolling around naked in Annie's bed and shower!"

"That's what this is about?" Of course it was.

"Of course it is, Richard. You are my assistant. And as such, I expect you to show up for work on time when we have a deadline. Not five minutes late, not twenty minutes late, or... like today... not _ninety _minutes late." She spouted off all this without looking away from the panel, and finally she set the pen down to look up at him, her expression hard. "Do I make myself clear?"

Richard nodded silently, unsure of what to follow up with. He'd never seen Caroline like this. Sure, he'd seen her ticked off when it was getting close to her wedding and Annie flaked on her maid of honor duties; he'd seen her miffed when the drycleaner put too much starch in her favorite shirt; he'd seen her peeved when she got short-changed at the supermarket; he'd even seen her irked when Del once ate the rest of the casserole she'd been saving for her dinner. But he'd never seen her furious. This was a whole new Caroline, and... frankly, Richard feared for his life a little.

Luckily that was when Annie decided to make another appearance. "Hey guys!"

Caroline grumbled a greeting, not looking up from her panels, while Richard nodded cordially. Behind Caroline's back, he saw Annie gesturing and mouthing things -- he was unsure exactly what she was getting at, but she seemed to be signaling he should start another performance. Glancing down at the panels, he asked, "So, uh... Annie. Since it's getting close to lunch, do you have any plans?" One glimpse at Caroline and her jaw was tensing.

"Why, Richie?" Annie teased in a lilting tone, heading for the coffee maker. "Couldn't get enough and now you want a nooner?"

They both glanced at Caroline now to note her ears were pinking. "Actually," Richard replied, "I was thinking we could head to Remo's. In fact, let's go right now!" he rushed into the kitchen and first grabbed Annie's hand; then, he tugged her with him quickly to the door, where he grabbed his coat. "Y'know, official first date and all - we'll see you at one-thirty, Caroline!" They just barely heard her grumbled reply before the door slammed behind them.

Annie laughed as they got on the elevator. "What the hell, Richie? You gotta work on your acting skills a little. That was a sorry excuse for a performance."

Richard sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What did I get myself into? This isn't going to work, Annie! She is so mad already."

"Good! That means we won't have to keep it up as long. Come on!" she grabbed his arm, "What is the big deal?"

"Other than the fact that I'm lying to my best friend and the woman that I--" he stopped himself just in time and looked up at Annie to see her quirking her eyebrow, and he finished lamely, "--work with."

Annie folded her arms across her chest, "Uh-huh," sarcasm heavily laden in her tone. "Well Richie, all I can tell you is, if she's the woman you," she made air quotes, "'work with,'" then dropped her hands to her sides, "and if you really 'work with' her that deeply, then you should say something. But since you won't, we now have to resort to petty trickery and lying."

Richard just sighed again and stepped off the elevator when they reached the lobby. Annie fell into step beside him and they walked to Remo's. Halfway there, Richard finally spoke again. "I just have never lied to her. I never could, I mean she digs so deeply into my life there's no way I'd be able to ever hide anything from her anyway!"

Annie touched his arm sympathetically. "That's because she likes ya, Richard. And not in a 'gee I'm glad he's my buddy' kind of way." She adored Caroline and she secretly didn't mind Richard, but... God, the two of them were clueless idiots sometimes. They had more repressed desires and unresolved tension than some of the most well-known cinematic and television couples. In Annie's mind, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully had nothing on Richard Karinsky and Caroline Duffy.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked, nervously.

Annie rolled her eyes and dropped her hand from his arm. "Do I _always_ have to spell it out for you two numbskulls? Look Richie, I know you think you wouldn't have a chance with Caroline, because, well," she chuffed and gestured to him, "it's you."

Richard rolled his eyes and turned to head back, but Annie grabbed his elbow and swung him around again, forcing him to keep walking with her. "But listen. Ever since she called off her wedding to Del and you ran off to Paris, things changed for her. That whole frickin' summer she couldn't stop talking about you, always wondering where you'd gone and why you never said goodbye. I've never seen her so broken up as she was when she came back from finding your place empty."

Richard glanced up at her, expression unreadable and voice soft. "Really?" There was a hint of hope in his tone that Annie latched onto.

"Yeah. God, after her and Del broke up, she barely shed a tear. When she came back from your place that next morning, she was inconsolable, Richie. All the ice cream and cheesy movies in the world couldn't cheer her up." As an afterthought, she added, "Took her two weeks to quit talkin' about that kiss, too."

"Really?"

Annie smiled. This was going to be a very informative lunch for Richard.

* * *

TBC

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **_I am enjoying writing CitC again. But, I unfortunately can't promise that updates will be speedy with this fic. I'm going to be trying my hardest, but I'm writing for about five other fandoms simultaneously! Hehehe. My muse is a flighty little thing :) _

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! 


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